SOMETHING OLD , SOMETHING NEW : A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF SEARCH BEHAVIOR AND NEW PRODUCT

We examine how firms search, or solve problems, to create new products. According to organizational learning research, firms position themselves in a unidimensional search space that spans a spectrum from local to distant search. Our findings in the global robotics industry suggest that firms' search efforts actually vary across two distinct dimensions: search depth, or how frequently the firm reuses its existing knowledge, and search scope, or how widely the firm explores new knowledge.

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